Wheaties: the Breakfast of Hometown Heroes
by Agent Ilse Stiefel-Getzug
Summary: Wheaties decides to take a new route for their new campaign: promoting young athletes. Who better than Gabe to go out for it and be featured? Admit it, you'd love Gabe to be on a cereal box...review please!


**Another N2N fic...Yay! This one came from a PM convo with BluestBlood (go check out her stories!) and very roughly follows her story "She's Not Here" which I recommend you all read! For those of you who have not yet read her wonderful story, Kathy is Gabe's girlfriend. And I know that Wheaties would probably never do a campaign like this in real life (unfortunately), but for the sake of the story, let's just pretend it does! Sound good?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Next to Normal related or Kathy, Ryan or James who are mentioned (they belong to BluestBlood) or any members of the panel. In fact, brownies for you who recognize who the members of the panel are and point them out! :D But I still don't own anything :(**

* * *

_*knock knock knock*_

It was a Saturday morning at the Goodman house. Dan had just finished brewing coffee and Gabe was sitting at the kitchen table eating his Wheaties. Natalie was still sleeping, the late nights finishing assignments finally catching up to her.

"Who could that be?" asked Dan out loud, going to answer the door.

"Oh hey Mr. G!" said Kathy excitedly, holding a section of the newspaper in her hand.

"Hi Kathy, come on in," Dan said, leaving the door open for her. "Gabe, Kathy's here!" he called to the kitchen.

"Hey Kath," Gabe said going to hug his girlfriend. He wasn't expecting her to practically jump in his arms with the most ecstatic grin on her face. "Whoa, you seem a little..."

"Excited?" Kathy finished off for him, breaking away to smile at him.

"Yeah," Gabe nodded. "It's 10:30 am, what are you doing here? And why do you look like you're about to explode from excitement?"

"Because of this!" she said, practically shoving the newspaper in his face.

"Kathy, it's a newspaper. What's so exciting about it?" Gabe asked, still confused.

"If you look at the ad circled in red marker, then you'll see!" Kathy said, pointing to the advertisement as Gabe read it aloud.

_Are you a local big time athlete? Think you've got what it takes to be a champion?_

_WHEATIES is taking a new route for our next cereal box. We're ready to promote local, young, hometown hero athletes._

_Must be: Young men between the ages of 17-25. Attractive look, athletic build, any ethnicity, not mind possibly being shirtless and must not be camera shy. If under the age of 19, please bring a parent or legal guardian to the audition. Please dress in casual clothing, such as jeans and a button down shirt. No makeup, please. _

_Limited time only! Be seen in YOUR local grocery store as one of our fifty featured "hometown heroes" across America!_

_For details please contact:..._

"No kidding, they're coming here!" Gabe asked incredulously, reading the ad over again. Kathy nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! You'd be absolutely perfect for this!" Kathy responded, jumping up and down on the spot.

He hugged Kathy tightly and spun her around, both of them laughing. "Thank you! Thank you for showing me this!"

"Gabe? What's going on?" Dan asked from the kitchen.

Gabe put Kathy down and ran to the kitchen to tell his father the news. "Dad! Dad, look at this! Can I **please** go try out for this?" he asked while his father read the ad.

"_Are you a local big time athlete..._" Dan read aloud while Gabe practically bounced in his seat and Kathy took a seat at the table.

"Wow, Gabe," Dan said, softly whistling after reading the ad. "Like it was made for you, isn't it?"

"I know!" Kathy cried suddenly. Gabe and Dan looked at her strangely. "Sorry, just a little excited about this," Kathy said softly. Gabe laughed lightly.

"Dad, can I please go out for this? I've never wanted anything as badly as this!" Gabe asked.

"I don't know, Gabe," Dan said, looking at the ad again. "I mean you have to be shirtless."

"I don't mind!" Gabe said excitedly. "I get to be famous! Please, Dad? Don't you want your son to be famous?"

"Well you might be okay with being shirtless on a cereal box across the county, but what about Kathy?"

"What about me?" Kathy asked.

"Are you okay with Gabe being shirtless on a cereal box across the county?"

"Well, girls ogle at him anyway!" Kathy said. "But I deal with it."

"Please, Dad?" Gabe asked again, pulling out the puppy dog eyes.

Dan sighed, thinking it through, a smile eventually coming to his face. "Alright, I know you really want this. We'll call them later in the afternoon to make the appointment, sound good?"

"YES!" Gabe shouted, pumping his fist in the air. "That sounds awesome Dad! Thank you thank you thank you!" Gabe said, grabbing Kathy's hand. "Come on, let's tell the others!" he said excitedly. "Be back later, Dad! Thank you!" Gabe called through the door, taking Kathy with him.

"My son on a cereal box...huh..." Dan absentmindedly wondered to himself.

* * *

_**Two weeks later...**_

"Goodman, Gabe," someone called from the interview room to the others waiting. There were roughly two hundred to three hundred teenagers and young men who had their audition that afternoon, Gabe included.

"That's me," Gabe said. "How do I look?" he asked Kathy.

"Handsome," Kathy said with a smile on her face. She was excited when Gabe asked her to come with him to the tryouts. "You'll knock 'em dead don't worry!"

"Gabe, you ready?" Dan said, standing up. Since Gabe was under age, he had to come in with him.

"Ready," Gabe said, taking a deep breath. "Kiss good luck?" Gabe asked Kathy.

She giggled, but gave him a quick kiss before sending him off. "Good luck! You'll do great," she said, hugging him before he left for his interview.

"Hi," Gabe said, walking into the room. "I'm Gabe Goodman," he said, putting on his most charming smile and going to shake hands with every person on the panel.

"Why, hello there," the younger woman on the panel softly and flirtatiously said so that he couldn't hear her, which earned herself an elbow to the rib by the other woman. "I mean, hello Mr. Goodman," she said, covering herself up in a professional manner when he went to shake her hand.

"Hello, Gabe," said the man who was obviously the head of the panel. "My name is Mr. Kitt, but you may call me Tom. I am the public relations manager of Wheaties and will be asking you the majority of the questions. Occasionally, other questions might be asked by the other five members of the panel; Mr. Yorkey, Mr. Gallagher, Ms. Zaken, Mrs. Ripley or Mr. Riabko. Any questions?"

"When do we get started?" Gabe said, putting on his "charming-enough-to-make-women-melt" smile again. Dan, from where he was sitting in the corner, thought he heard the younger woman on the panel sigh after he smiled, followed by a quiet "ow!"

"Great," Mr. Kitt said. "Now we do have one question for you and for your father in the back. You may be required to take your shirt off for the interview and for the advertisement if you are hired. Are you okay with that?"

"I've got no problem with it," Gabe said, turning to his dad.

"Fine with me," Dan said in the back.

"God, I love my job," Ms. Zaken said under her breath. "Great, let's get started shall we?" she said out loud, starting the interview.

* * *

**_A few weeks later..._**

"Henry, what are we doing here?" Natalie asked, groaning as Henry dragged her around Costco.

"Relax Nat, I just promised my mom I'd pick up a few things she forgot to get before we go back to my house. Remember you're coming over?" Henry said as he grabbed the tomato sauce off the shelf.

"Yeah, but-" Natalie started to say.

"And my mom wants to make a really good dinner for you," Henry said as they went down the cereal aisle.

"For us," Natalie corrected.

"Oh please, my mom loves you. She never cooks pasta when you're not over," Henry said. "Besides, we just have to pick up some Cheerios then we're done. Okay?"

"Okay," Natalie said, sighing, wanting to leave, and standing by the Special K while Henry got his cereal.

"Um...Nat?" Henry started to say, noticing Natalie wasn't really paying attention.

"Yeah?" she said, turning to Henry.

"Is that...your brother...on a cereal box?" he asked hesitantly.

"WHAT?" Natalie shouted, storming over to where Henry was. She saw he was looking strangely at the Wheaties box, which, sure enough, had a picture of Gabe, shirtless, smiling at the camera, a football at his side and holding a bowl of Wheaties. His name, age, hometown and sport were shown, advertising Gabe as a "hometown hero." She flipped the box around, hoping it was some cruel joke, only to find Gabe's bio on the back.

"No..." Natalie said quietly, eyes widening and anger starting to boil in her. She looked at the few boxes of Wheaties left, only to find Gabe was on those boxes, too. Henry tried to walk away slowly, knowing Natalie would blow up at any moment. All of a sudden, two teenage girls came down the cereal aisle.

"Look at this!" One said, grabbing a Wheaties box and showing it to the other girl. "Isn't he so hot?"

The other girl wolf whistled, grabbing the box from her friend. "If only the bowl wasn't there. What I'd do to him..." she trailed off, admiring the box.

"Uh oh," Henry said under his breath.

"THAT'S MY FUCKING BROTHER!" Natalie yelled at the two girls, who were frightened enough to drop the box. "Don't you DARE talk about MY BROTHER like that!"

"Sorry!" Both girls said at the same time, one of them grabbing the box on the floor. "We didn't mean it!" the other said, clearly lying since her friend ran with the box to checkout. She smiled a hesitant smile at Natalie, and then ran off to catch up with her friend.

"I can't fucking believe this," Natalie said, pacing a bit up and down the aisle. "I mean, MY BROTHER is on a CEREAL BOX?" she practically yelled, not caring that she was scaring everyone about to enter the cereal aisle. "What is wrong with the world?"

"Natalie, I'm sure there's some reason behind this..." Henry trailed off, wondering what on earth Gabe was doing on a cereal box.

"He's going to have some explaining to do when I get home," Natalie muttered under her breath, throwing the box to the ground and crossing her arms. "Why? WHY?"

"Come on, Natalie, let's go. You said you wanted to leave anyways," Henry said, slightly scared of his girlfriend right now. "It'll just upset you more being here."

Natalie sighed. "You're right. But still...EW! I do NOT need to see my SHIRTLESS BROTHER on a fucking cereal box! Please tell me I'm dreaming!"

"Sorry, Nat, you're not dreaming," Henry said, grabbing the box of Cheerios, glad to know Gabe wasn't on THAT cereal box. Another girl came into the cereal aisle, eyes set on the Wheaties box that Natalie kicked on the ground.

"Huh," she said, getting another Wheaties box and putting the kicked one back on the shelf. "Mom! Can we try Wheaties this time?" she called out to her mother, hugging the cereal box to her chest and running to her mother.

"This can't be happening..." Natalie said under her breath. Henry placed an arm around her, trying to comfort her. "Why? Why MY brother? Why not Ryan or James, or some anonymous guy? Why GABE?"

"Natalie..." Henry started to say, trying to lead her away from the cereal aisle. "Remember when Gabe mentioned something about an audition...I think this was it."

"This was it? Why couldn't it have been for the school musical or something! This is...EW!" she said, noticing another teenage girl going into the cereal aisle. She broke away from Henry to speak to her. "Don't you DARE go and buy Wheaties with the guy on the box! That's my brother!"

"But-" the girl started to say.

"DON'T DO IT!" she yelled at the girl, who was frightened enough to run away. "Stupid attractive brother."

* * *

_**Later that day...**_

_*ring* *ring*_

"Hello?" Kathy answered at the Goodman household.

"Oh, hello. This is Mr. Kitt from Wheaties. We were wondering if Mr. Gabe Goodman would like to consider continuing working with us-"

"Listen, Mr. Kitt, Gabe isn't interested anymore," Kathy bitterly said in the phone.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" she heard the speaker say on the other end.

"This is his girlfriend. I DON'T need girls hanging around MY boyfriend, throwing themselves at him just because he's now a big celebrity!"

"No offense, but who are you to judge and tell Mr. Goodman what he can and can't do?" Mr. Kitt asked through the phone, very confused at the situation.

"Gabe doesn't want to do this anymore! He was just chased home by a crowd of rabid fangirls asking for his autograph and asking him to take his shirt off! He's petrified and never wants to leave the house again!" Kathy yelled into the phone.

"I'm very sorry about that, Miss, but may I please speak to Gabe Goodman?"

"Kathy?" Mr. Kitt heard in the background. "It's not a fangirl, is it?" Gabe asked in a frightened tone.

"No. It's just the Wheaties people," Kathy calmly responded.

"Can I talk to them?" Gabe asked Kathy.

"Yes, may I please speak to Gabe?" asked Mr. Kitt who heard the entire interaction.

"Fine," Kathy grumbled into the phone. "Do you want more ice?" she asked Gabe.

"Yes, please. I don't know why they had to throw a football at me..." Gabe trailed off as Kathy passed the phone to him.

"Hi, Gabe. This is Mr. Kitt from the Wheaties franchise and we were just wondering if you'd like to-"

"You've got to help me," Gabe pleaded into the phone.

"I'm sorry, what?" Mr. Kitt asked, confused again.

"These girls are absolutely crazy! I'm getting chased everywhere I go! Girls are yelling at me down the street to take my shirt off and chasing me all the way to my house! Someone even threw a football at me and asked me to autograph it! And between you and me," he started to say as he got quieter. "I think there were a few guys among those girls," he practically whispered in the phone.

"I'm very sorry that happened but-"

"PLEASE help me! How can I get them off my back? My girlfriend is getting threatened at school, saying that I'm going to date them instead of her. There are some girls outside my house RIGHT NOW waiting to attack me when I get out! How do you get rid of them?" Gabe asked, desperate for answers.

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't know-" Mr. Kitt said, cut off again.

"Gabe, they're still out there!" Mr. Kitt heard Kathy say in the background.

"Damn it," Gabe said under his breath. "I quit!"

"What?" Mr. Kitt said. "Sir, this is a great opportunity for you to get exposure in the athletic world-"

"No! If this is what I have to deal with to sign with you guys, I don't want to do it anymore! No more fangirls!"

"Sir, I'd like you to think this through. You would be featured all across America, not just in your state this time. This is a very rare opportunity-"

"I just said I don't want any more fangirls!" Gabe shouted in the phone. "Why would I want more all across the freaking country?"

"So what you're saying is-"

"NO! I don't want this anymore! You have forty-nine other athletes that you featured. Use one of them! I quit!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way, sir. It is a great loss to Wheaties-" Mr. Kitt tried to say, trying to persuade Gabe.

"Yeah, whatever," Gabe said, brushing it off, glad he was paid before this madness. "Goodbye Mr. Kitt. Thanks for the 'helpful advice'," Gabe said before hanging up the phone.

Mr. Kitt sighed in his office, hanging up the phone, head in his hands. His associate, Mr. Yorkey, had walked in his office, two coffees in hand. "Afternoon, Tom. Why so frustrated?" he asked, setting the coffees down on the desk. "Sales are through the roof since we started this 'hometown heroes' campaign."

"I know, but that's the twenty-sixth candidate to drop us due to fangirls."

* * *

**HAHAHA yes! Even in this world, Gabe has fangirls! XD He's just too beautiful to be without any!**

**Reviews? Gabe on a cereal box for anyone who reviews! (as for what you do with CerealBox!Gabe is all up to you...)**


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